I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to media editing. In particular, the present invention relates to split editing.
II. Related Art
Editing is generally the art of making subtle adjustments to a material or materials in a form that communicates a message with maximum impact. In the area of video editing, the editor defines and shapes the video and/or audio until the message to be delivered is accomplished. Generally, video editing may be divided into two categories: linear video editing and non-linear video editing. In linear video editing, the images are taken in a sequential order. Stated differently, one idea after another must be previously conceived and then, the video is taken in the conceived chronological sequence. For example, suppose a video is to be taken of an office, the editor must first conceptualize as to what the scenes would be and in which sequence. The editor may want to take a video of an entry into the Office. This scene perhaps followed by a focus on a pot plant in a corner. The scene may then move to the various articles on a desk and then, the scene shifting its focus to a window. In linear video editing, this is the precise sequence the video must be taken.
By contrast, in non-linear video editing, scenes may be taken in any order and later edited according to a desired sequence. Whether linear video editing or non-linear video editing approach is to be taken generally depends on the video system that is to be used. While non-linear video editing system may be more complicated, the advantage is that the video may be taken in any sequence and later, through careful observation of the video and a thoughtful process, the video may be manipulated to communicate the message in the manner the editor wishes to convey with maximum impact. Due to its free format, the editor can readily impute creativity without being constrained physically.
With the advancement of computer technology, further improvements have been made to the video editing system through a process called digitization. In particular, the digitization of video has had a profound impact on non-linear video editing system. Previously, copies of a film containing the video would be made. By cutting and splicing the copies, an edited version of the original film was made. If the editor was not satisfied, further copies of the original film were made and the cutting and splicing would resume until a desired product was obtained. In a digital video editing system, video is stored in a storage medium such as magnetic discs or laser discs thereby allowing the video to be retrieved randomly and displayed on a display device such as a monitor. This alleviates the burdensome technique of cutting and splicing. Further, in random access, each image of the video operates independently, thus, it is possible to retrieve a particular image without sequentially going through other materials to reach the image. Examples of sequential access would be films or magnetic tapes. By allowing images to be accessed randomly, video can be easily manipulated into any desired sequence which is the heart of a non-linear video editing system.
One desired feature of the improved editing system is the ability to provide special effects to the message to be conveyed during the editing process. FIG. 1 is a flow chart that shows such feature. In block 10, an audio clip is retrieved to a source window to be edited. A clip is a basic unit of media that comprises movies, still images, nested sequences, video files and audio files. It may be desirable to edit the audio clip such that the audio in and/or the audio out is different from its corresponding video clip. For example, the audio clip may correspond to a video clip of a critic explaining a certain motion of a dance choreography. Using a three-point edit, the audio clip is edited to capture the explanation. A three-point edit is where a start point (also referred to as an in point) and an end point (also referred to as an out point) are specified and an in point is specified at a destination such as a destination window. Once the three-point edit is performed, in block 12, the edited portion of the audio clip is transferred to the destination window. In block 14, the corresponding video clip of the audio clip is separately retrieved to the source window to be edited. Using again the three-point edit, the video clip is edited such that when the critic is explaining the dance motion, that portion of the video clip is cut. This time duration difference between the audio clip and the video clip is known as split edit. Because the audio and video edit are done separately, the relationship between the two needs to be defined. Terms of art have evolved defining the relationship. For example, J-cut defines an edit where the audio clip starts earlier in time than the video clip. L-cut defines an edit where the audio clip ends later in time than the video clip. Block 18 shows this step. In block 16, the edited video clip is transferred to the destination window to be split edited with the edited audio clip. Note that in this split edit, the edited video clip cuts off while the corresponding audio clip continues on and thus, would be an L-cut. The two edited clips are then superimposed onto another video clip displaying the actual choreography with its accompanying audio clip. The end result is a composite video clip that initially displays the critic making comments of a dance choreography. When the critic is about to explain a certain motion, the video of the critic is replaced with the actual video of the dance motion. However, the voice of the critic continues on to comment on the motion. When the comments are finished, the audio is replaced with the audio corresponding to the video of the dance choreography.
The split edit process described above is burdensome because the audio clip and the video clip are edited separately, then combined with another video and audio clip. In certain instances, the editor manually calculates the video in, video out, audio in and the audio out of the split edit. This requires great effort on the part of the editor. Because the split edit process is burdensome, the editor may not desire to experiment with the various positions of video in, video out, audio in and audio out to get to the combination which the editor considers to convey the message with maximum impact, for example. It is desirable to provide a split edit feature that is simple to use and does not burden the editor allowing the editor to focus on editing with creativity and without distraction.